The world’s largest battery manufacturer will deliver hundreds of its containerised liquid-cooled battery systems to two Western Australian battery projects worth more than $1 billion collectively, with Spanish multinational Power Electronics to supply the inverters.
The contracts, signed with state-owned energy firm Synergy, are a part of the Collie and Kwinana battery projects announced during the state’s 2023 Budget.
China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) will deliver about 300 of its lithium-ion EnerC Plus battery systems for the Collie project and 650 of its EnerC Plus battery systems for the Kwinana project.
Meanwhile, Spanish multinational Power Electronics will deliver 72 inverters and 160 inverters to the projects, respectively.
The funding is a part of the state government’s larger $2.8 billion commitment to renewable energy projects made in the 2023 state Budget.
The Kwinana Battery Stage Two project will provide 200MW of power and have a storage capacity of 800MWh. Construction began in June and will be complete at the end of 2024.
The Collie battery will be the biggest in the state when complete at 500MW and a storage capacity of 2,000MWh.
In June 2022, the state government committed to phasing out all state-owned coal-fired power stations by 2030, including the 350MW Collie Power Station and the 1094MW Muja Power Station, both located in and around Collie.
WA Premier Roger Cook said the battery deals “represent a major and important investment by our Government into WA’s cleaner, reliable and affordable energy future”.
“We’re putting WA on the path to becoming a global green energy superpower, which is good for jobs, good for the environment, and will keep our economy strong into the future,” he said.
State Energy minister Bill Johnston has described CATL as a “global leader of new energy innovative technologies” and Power Electronics as a “leading manufacturer” of inverters.
While Australia is a large producer of battery critical minerals — around half of the world’s largest producer of lithium, the third largest producer of cobalt and fourth largest producer of rare earths — Chinese manufacturing dominates global battery supply chains, producing three quarters of lithium-ion batteries.
A key objectives of the renewed national critical minerals strategy, released in June, is to diminish reliance on Chinese supply chains.
When asked at a press conference about the supply chain risks of contracting a Chinese company, Synergy chief executive David Fyfe said they have accounted for any potential risks.
“CATL, the world’s largest supplier of batteries, has about 43 per cent of the global supply of batteries. Many Chinese batteries are used right across the world, including in the United States for battery storage systems like big battery, so it’s not unusual to see Chinese components in these large industrial projects,” Mr Fyfe said.
However, in a statement to InnovationAus.com, federal Liberal Senator and shadow home affairs and cybersecurity minister James Paterson flagged that links between CATL and the Chinese Communist Party could potentially be a national security risk.
As such, he urged the federal government to review the Western Australian state government project.
“State governments must be cognisant when entering into partnerships with China-based companies that are ultimately beholden to the interests of the CCP and be wary that the activities of such companies are governed by the China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law which compels them to cooperate with China’s intelligence services and to keep cooperation secret,” Senator Paterson told InnovationAus.com.
“The $1 billion deal to expand the West Australian battery energy storage system in partnership with CATL, whose Founder-CEO Robin Zheng Yuqun is a publicly known member of the CPP’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, should be carefully reviewed by the Albanese government in light of any national security risks resulting from this deal ultimately funded by WA taxpayers.”
The office of Home Affairs and Cybersecurity minister Clare O’Neil declined to comment.
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